Dog on The Tuckerbox

One of Australia’s famous pioneer monuments is located in the small town of Gundagai about half way between Melbourne and Sydney. The monument constitutes a dog sitting on top of a tucker box, which is the Australian equivalent of a lunchbox, but larger. Erected in 1926, the memorial pays homage to the bullockies or bullock cart drivers who transported building materials and supplies to remote towns and settlements over great distances under great hardship. The statue was inspired by a doggerel poem about a bullock cart driver named Bill, whose cart got bogged down at creek, and while he swore at his bullocks, his canine friend sat on his lunchbox, or worse, and spoiled his food. Dog on the Tuckerbox. Photo: Zeytun Images | Dreamstime.com Bullock teams were used in Sydney and around New South Wales in the late 18th century to haul building materials for the newly established penal colony. Bullock carts were also used by explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in 1824, when they led an expedition into New South Wales to find new grazing land. Later, British officer Charles Sturt led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, and also used bullock teams during his explorations. In the mid 19th century, before the advent of railways, bullock carts were the mainstay of transport, carrying essential food and station supplies to isolated country areas, and the produce of the land such as wheat, wool, and sugarcane to the shipping ports. Transporting materials and harvest over bullock wagons was slow, and consequently the journeys were long. The job demanded skilled and tough men who could face any adversity. Bullockies were also colorful characters, noted for their strong language and swearing. A typical bullocky wore a cabbage tree hat, a twill shirt of that period, moleskin trousers, blucher boots and carried a long bullock whip. Bullock team hauling wool on a dray, Walcha, New South Wales, circa 1918.